It’s been 15 years since the original iPhone went on sale and became one of the biggest consumer technology products of all time.
Put simply, it revolutionised the way we use our mobile devices.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone during a legendary keynote in San Francisco on January 9, 2007 and went on sale on June 29, 2007.
Since then, more than 2.2 billion iPhones have been sold worldwide.
But in 2007 the original iPhone was only available in the US and then later in the UK.
In 2007, customers began lining up outside Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York a week before it officially went on sale and for years afterwards the line to buy an iPhone on launch day would become a fixture outside every Apple Store.
The device was so popular, many Australians, including myself, purchased the iPhone in the US and unlocked it to use on Australian networks.
But many Australians who unlocked the original iPhone were stung with massive bills because their plans were only designed for talk and text rather than data which was, at the time, an expensive commodity on our cellular networks
The standout feature of that original iPhone was the multi-touch touchscreen display which allowed you to scroll through contacts with a flick of your finger and pinch to zoom in and out of your photos.
Compared with the current iPhones, the original iPhone was quite primitive in comparison.
It was a 2G device with no front camera, no rear flash, a sealed battery, no expandable memory and had a 3.5-inch display.
Australians wouldn’t get their first official taste of the iPhone until 2008 with the launch of the iPhone 3G.
The iPhone 3G launched in Australia on July 11, 2008 with capped plans offering between 100MB and 1GB of data on two-year contracts.
One of the biggest by-products of the iPhone was its ability to run apps.
In fact, the App Store opened in 2008 at around the same time the iPhone 3G went on sale in Australia.
Today the App Store is home to millions of apps that not only cater for the iPhone but also for the iPad (launched in 2010) and the Apple Watch (launched in 2015).
It is also created a multi-billion-dollar app developer industry that has generated tens of billions of dollars and created jobs for millions of people around the world.
Later this year Apple will release the iPhone 14.
Rumours suggest there will be four devices the iPhone 14 with a 6.1-inch display, the iPhone 14 Plus with a 6.7-inch display along with the iPhone 14 Pro which will include a triple camera system and a 6.1-inch display and the iPhone 14 Pro Max with its 6.7-inch display.
The iPhone 14 Pro models will also reportedly have no notch at the top of the screen with hole punches in the display making way for the sensors and front facing cameras.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE iPHONE
2007: iPhone
4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities.
Camera: 2-megapixel
2008: iPhone 3G – sold one million units in first weekend.
8GB and 16GB capacities
Camera: 2-megapixel
2009: iPhone 3GS
8GB, 16GB AND 32GB capacities
Camera: 3-megapixel
2010: iPhone 4
8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities
Camera: 5-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 0.3-megapixel
2011: iPhone 4S – introduction of Siri
8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities
Camera: 5-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 0.3-megapixel
2012: iPhone 5 – introduction of larger 4-inch display
16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities
Camera: 8-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 1.2-megapixel
2013: iPhone 5S – introduction of Touch ID
16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities
Camera: 8-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 1.2-megapixel
2013: iPhone 5C – 4-inch display with colour polycarbonate shell
8GB and 32GB capacities
Camera: 8-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 1.2-megapixel
2014: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – introduction of larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays
16GB, 32GB , 64GB and 128GB capacities
Camera: 8-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 1.2-megapixel
2015: iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus – introduction of 3D Touch screen
32GB , 64GB and 128GB capacities
Camera: 12-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 5-megapixel
2016: iPhone SE – 4-inch display with iPhone 5 design
32GB and 128GB capacities
Camera: 12-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 1.2-megapixel
2016: iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus – headphone jack removed.
64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities
Camera: 12-megapixel with rear flash, front camera 7-megapixel. iPhone 7 Plus has additional telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom.
2017: iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays
64GB, 256GB capacities
Camera: iPhone 8 – single camera 12-megapixel. iPhone 8 Plus dual 12-megapixel
2017: iPhone X – 5.8-inch display – home button removed. Introduction of Face ID
Camera: Dual 12-megapixel.
2018: iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max
2018: iPhone XR
2019: iPhone 11
2019: iPhone 11 Pro
2020: iPhone 12 – redesign – first 5G iPhone
2020: iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max – redesign – first 5G iPhone
2021: iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini and iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro
